Conveyer or chute for infilling material.



PATENTED MAR. 1, 1904.

T. NICHOLSON. OONVEYER OR- GHUTE FOR INFILLING MATERIAL.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 26. 1902.

N0 MODEL.

Fig.2.

Witnesses:

Nam-us PETERS c0, PHOTO-LUNG" WASNKNGIDN, n. c;

- UNITED STATES Patented March 1, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE THOMAS NICHOLSON, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

OONVEY-EH OR CHUlTE FOR INFILLING MATERIAL.

SPECIFICATION forming part 6r Letters Patent No;' 753,616, dated. March1, 1904.

Application filed J' I11y 26, 1902. Serial No. 117,087- (No model.) 7

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS NrcHoLsoN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented a certain new and useful Improvement in Conveyers or Chutes forInfilling Material, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates more especially to means for conveying ordelivery concrete, cement, mortar, and other material to the bottom ofexcavations, pits, and other similar inaccessible places, and has forits object to construct a conduit or tube made up in sections readilydetachable one from the other and constituting as a whole a continuouschute or conveyer through which the material will pass to be deliveredat the end of the conveyer or chute, to so suspend and support thesectional conduit or tube as to enable the same to be swung as a wholelaterally without interfering with its operation as a con veyer orchute, and to improve generally the construction, arrangement, andoperation of the conveyer or chute as a whole.

The invention consists in the features of construction and combinationsof parts hereinafter described and claimed. i

In the drawings, Figure 1 is an elevation showing a hole to be filledwith the conveyer or chute of the invention suspended therein andreaching nearly to the bottom thereof; Fig. 2, a sectional elevationshowing one manner of interlocking one section of the conduit or tubewith another; Fig. 3, an eleva tion of a single section of the conduitor tube, showing a manner of attachment to the sus pending-chain; andFig. 4, an elevation of a single section of the conduit or tube,likewise showing the attachment to the suspendingchain.

The conveyer A is formed of a sectional conduit. or tube, each section ahaving a flaring end a, into which is entered the end of the precedingsection, so as to form a species of lap-joint or interlock of onesection with another, the lap-joint or interlock furnishing asufficiently-rigid connection between the sections to enable the conduitor tube as a Whole to be swung laterally without breaking or disruptingtheconveyer or chute, and it is downward passage of the materialthrough.

the conveyer or chute. The sections can be made of sheet-iron or othersheet metal or light material of suflicient strength to withstand thewear and strain in use, and the sections can have a diameter of eight orten inches and a length of four or five feet or such other diameter andlength as may be desired, it being understood that the diameter andlength should be such as to furnish a clear passage for the materialthrough the conveyer or tube and to enable'the lower section as thefilling progrosses upward to be readily detached and removed, so thatthe next preceding section will form the delivery end of the conveyer orchute.

Each section of the conduit or tube in the arrangement shown has onopposite sides hooks or lugs b of a form to be readily entered into thelinks of the suspending-chains B, one chain being provided. for eachside of the conveyer or chute. Each chain is lapped around or otherwiseattached inthe arrangement shown to a supporting-beam C on a platform orframework D, but could be otherwise attached to the beam, or the chainscould be tied or connected to any suitable support at the upper end solong as the connection and the manner of suspending the chain is onethat will hold the sections of the conduit or tube entered one into theother In use the conveyer or chute A, of a length to suit the depth ofthe excavation'or hole F which is to be filled, is made up orconstructed by attaching the lowermost section of the conduit or tube byits ears I) to a link of the chain on each side.

cavation to be filled for the material to discharge from the lowersection with sufiicient space to be spread and compacted or otherwisemanipulated in the excavation or hole, as shown in Fig. 1, where thematerial is shown as discharging from the conveyer or chute. When thefilling has nearly reached the lower end of the first section of theconduit or tube, such first section is unhooked from the suspendingchains, and the second section then becomes the discharging-section, andwhen the filling has nearly reached the height of the lower end of thissecond section such section is unhooked and the third section becomesthe discharging-section, and so on until the upper section is reached,and as each section is unhooked it is to be removed from the hole orexcavation by means of a rope (not shown) or otherwise, and the unusedends of the chains can be attached to a cord or cords (not shown) bywhich can be raised the chains, so as to be kept clear of the filling asthe material is discharged into the excavation or hole. The concrete,cement, mortar, or other material to be filled into the excavation orhole is to be mixed in any usual and well-known manner at the top of theground and from the place of mixing is to be carried or deposited on theplatform E, from which it can be easily shoveled or otherwise depositedinto the top of the conveyer or chute to pass down therein. Thesuspending of the conveyer or chute from above by means of chains orother flexible means, so as to hold the sections engaged one with theother, enables the operator or workman at the bottom of the excavation,hole, or pit by taking hold of the lower end of the conduit or tube toswing thedischarge end sidewise or laterally in any direction requiredfor directing the material to any desired point and so as to evenly anduniformly distribute the material as it falls from the conveyer orchute.

It will be seen that with my invention a conveyer or chute is providedmade up of a sectional conduit, tube, or pipe, each section of which isadapted to be independently supported by a suspending chain or othersuspending means, so that one section can be readily detached whennecessary, or a section can be added when desired without therequirement of any special skill in detaching or attaching a section andwithout any waste of time in so doing; that the conduit or tube, whilemade up ofsections,has the sections engaging one with the other by anoverlapped joint or interlock, forming, in efi'ect, a continuous conduitor tube or pipe with sufficient rigidity to allow the conveyer or chuteas a whole to be swung without breaking or destroying the continuity orinterfering with the free passage downward and discharge of the materialat the lower end; that as the material rises in the excavation, hole, orpit to be filled the lowermost section of the conduit, tube, or pipe canbe detached, leaving a complete conveyer or chute for continuing thefilling operation, and the removed or detached section can be withdrawn,leaving the filling space for the reception of the material, that theremovable or detachable sections enable the conveyer or chute to belengthened or shortened at any time without any trouble orinconvenience, it only being necessary for shortening to detach asectionand for lengthening to attach a section of the conduit or tube, and

that the material can be deposited at the bottom of the excavation,hole, or pit, and its discharge be directed to any point desired throughthe rigidity of the conveyer or chute, by which the discharge endthereof can be swung to any point desired, so as to deposit the materialin a uniform and even manner.

While the suspending means shown are chains, one on each side, it is tobe understood that other suitable means, such as looped or knottedcables, Wire, or rope may be employed for suspending the sections, eachindependently, and have the suspension to form a continuous conduit ortube.

The sections of the conduit or tube can be of the same diameterthroughout their'length except the flare at the receiving end of eachsection for entering the end of the preceding section and with lightmaterial for construct-' ing the sections. The flare will enable theentering end of the section to be forced into the receiving end of thesection, the metal or material contracting sufficiently for thispurpose, or the entering end'could be slightly contracted to facilitatethe entering, if so desired, and instead of each section having a bodyof the same diameter its entire length the body of each section could bemade slightly tapering, as shown for the upper sectionin Fig. 2, whichwould not interfere with the passage of the material through the conduitor tube. a

It will be understood that instead of removing successively each lowersection to foreshorten the conduit or tube as the excavation, hole, orpit isfilled the conduit or tube could be bodily raised and the uppersections successively removed, thus attaining the same result of a clearspace at the lower or discharge end of the conveyer or chute.

The essential and important feature of 'the present invention is theconstruction of a con- Veyer or chute for depositing infilling materialfrom or by means of a sectional conduit lower end into dischargingposition as required, and while the invention has been described as tothe construction of the conveyer or chute for infilling materialsomewhat minutely as to the details and arrangements of the variousparts I do not intend thereby to limit myself to specific parts,details, or arrangement further than as the same are specified andcalled for in the claims, as it is the intention to make'such changes inthe several parts and elements as circumstances may render desirable orthe work to be done may require without departing from the essentialplan and features of the invention.

What I regard as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a conveyer or chute for infilling material, the combination of asectional conduit or tube having its sections detachably connectedtogether and when connected having the entering ends of thesectionsinterlocked one with the other, means for suspending the conduit or tubeto hang free, and means for connecting each section independently anddetachably to the suspending means, substantially as described.

2. In a conveyer or chute for infilling material, the combination of asectional conduit or tube having its sections detachably connectedtogether and when connected having close rigid joints at the enteringends of the sections, means for suspending the conduit or tube to hangfree, and means for connecting each section independently and detachablyto the suspending means, substantially as de scribed.

3. In a conveyer or chute for infilling material, the combination of aconduit or tube consisting of a. series of hollow cylindrical sectionstelescoped partially, into each other at their adjacent ends and havingrigid close joints at each of said telescopic connections, and means forsuspending the conduit or tube and having the sections thereofindependently and detachably connected thereto, whereby the conveyer orchute as a whole may be swung about at its lower end without pivotal ortelescopic action at the joints and may be extended or shortened by theaddition or removal of a section or sections, substantially asdescribed.

4. In a conveyer or chute for infilling material, the combination of aconduit or tube consisting of .a series of attachable and detachablehollow cylindrical sections having the same diameter and tapered totelescope partially into each other at their adjoining ends formingrigid joints when the sections are attached, means for suspending theconduit or tube to hang free, means for independently and detachablyconnecting the sections of the conduit or tube onto the suspendingmeans,

and a receiver for and from which the material can be introduced intothe upper end of the conduit or tube to be discharged at the lower endthereof, substantially as described.

5. In a'conveyer or chute for infilling material,the combination of aconduit or chute composed of separately-detachable sections rigidlyconnected together and having their ends telescoped into each other tomake a tight joint and enable the conveyer or chute as a whole to beshifted bodily, laterally and vertically, means for suspending theconduit or tube to hang free, a support for the suspending means,

and a receiver for and from which the mateof the conduit or tube adaptedto engage a link of the chain and detachably and independently connecteach section of the conduit or tube to the chains, and a support for thechains at their upper ends, substantially as described.

THOMAS NICHOLSQN.

Witnesses:

OSCAR W. BoNn, WALKER BANNING.

